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Director Chloe Zhao has created a somber, almost tragic look back, look now and look to the possible future for many of us working stiffs. The film is called Nomadland ( 2021) starring Frances McDormand as Fern, a 60 something widow forced out of her previous life and...

In David Oshinsky's fine biography of Senator Joseph McCarthy (A Conspiracy so Immense) we learn of the political climate in the early 1950s concerning the ( supposed ) threat of Communism. What many do not understand about Sen. McCarthy was that he was not the first...

If one reads Richard Condon's 1958 novel The Manchurian Candidate or sees the original film (1962) or its remake (2004) one would realize my comparison to today's events. In the novel ( and films ) we see a patrol of US soldiers being captured and then brainwashed by...

If you're a working stiff with some sense of rhyme or reason, you should feel them near. They come in all shapes and sizes, these predators. For starters we have the ever-present War Sharks. These are the gung ho wave the flag gang, made up of Pentagon sharks and the...

Now I don't recall what rank Gov. Ron DeSantis had in the Navy, while over in Iraq or Afghanistan, fighting the ' Good Fight'. After all, those countries have water ... oh, maybe I mean drinking water or sewage water. I will just call him ' Captain Ron' for purposes...

A must read for all who wish to study our Civil War history is Barnet Schecter's 2005 book The Devil's Own Work. He carefully covers the 1863 NYC Draft Riots, the major and important Civil War battles, and finally, the Reconstruction years leading up to the 1868...

Everyone should view Wagner DeAssis's 2011 Portuguese film Astral City... especially those of us who dissent against injustice. Isn't that a contradiction, some would ask? Perhaps, if dissent is meant to be the sole possession of atheists, agnostics and 100%...

Kudos to Bob Dylan for his great 60s song ' It's All Over Now Baby Blue ' . HIs lyrics, as usual, can fit into any social and political commentary: You must leave, now take what you need You think will last But whatever you wish to keep You better grab it fast Yonder...

Well, as a baby boomer who has seen lots of instances of the empire using MY flag as their own private property, this newest one ' takes the cake'. I mean, my generation went through the whole ' America, love it or leave it' rhetoric during the Vietnam debacle. Many...

The husband always loved cats, especially kittens. He remembered being five years old and seeing his neighbor next door having this basket laid out on the pavement. It was filled with a momma cat and her five baby kittens. He petted the momma and then proceeded to...

In the early 70s the Rolling Stones sized it up for we working stiffs in their song 'Luxury':  I want a real fine car, fly Miami too All the rum, I want to drink it, all the whiskey too My woman need a new dress, my daughter got to go to school I'm working so hard,...

Baby You’re a Rich Man The Beatles How does it feel to be One of the beautiful people Now that you know who you are What do you want to be And have you traveled very far Far as the eye can see How does it feel to be One of the beautiful people How often have you been...

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand You see somebody naked and you say, “Who is that man?” You try so hard but you don’t understand Just what you will say when you get home Because something is happening here but you don’t know what it is Do you, Mr....

A must see movie for all Americans is " Inherit the Wind" ( 1960, Stanley Kramer, Director). To those who never saw this film, it accurately portrays the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. The trial of substitute high school teacher John Scopes was for...

He blesses the boys as they stand in line The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine He's there to help them all that he can To make them feel wanted he's a good holy man. Sky pilot... Sky pilot How high can you fly? You'll never, never, never reach the sky....

In Mark Wortman’s impressive historical account of the lead-up to WW2 here in America, 1941 , Fighting the Shadow War, one becomes amazed at what went on then. We can still have debates as to whether the US should have gotten into the European conflict or not before...

One of our nation's greatest novelists, Sinclair Lewis once wrote that " When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." Are we soon to be approaching that Rubicon? January 6th , 2021 will go down in American history either as A) The...

This baby boomer had lived most of his life under the thumb of a landlord. It was always the same refrain : The landlord did as little as could be done for the tenant. This is just the way it is in a capitalist society. Before this current era of the absentee...

Many Americans can see for their own eyes how people from low income areas speak, due to the overwhelming news coverage ( finally ) of police killings of unarmed blacks. When there are equally disturbing instances of murders within areas where low income whites and...

Wikipedia defines Kapos , which originated from the German concentration camps, as the following:  Kapos were inmates of Nazi camps who were appointed as guards to oversee other prisoners in various tasks. There were three main types of Kapos : work supervisors, block...

May 26, 2016 Growing up in what we considered "Beautiful  Brooklyn" in the 50s and 60s, who would wish to live anywhere else? We had tree-lined streets and neighborhoods that were like little villages back in those "good old days." Every main avenue contained a slew...